Control Orders

Asked whether the PMS was expecting any judgement on control orders, the PMS said his understanding was that the appeal had been launched today, but it may take several days before we had a verdict. The Home Office would be able to give an authoritative response on the matter

Terror Arrests

Put that the Indian Prime Minster was concerned the Indian community in Britain could be targeted as a result of the arrests in the recent terror investigation, the PMS said the Prime Minister believed the UK benefited from the diversity of culture in Britain and that moderates from all communities should unite against extremists.

Chequers

Russia

Asked if there was any reaction on Russia's decision not to extradite in the Litvinenko case, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) told journalists that at this point, there was no formal response from Russia, and that this was simply reporting further speculation from officials. We were waiting for a formal note from the Russians. As we had said before, this was a serious crime, and we sought and expected full co-operation from the Russian Authorities in bringing the perpetrator to face British justice. At this point, we had not received any formal note from the Russians.

Prime Minister’s Travel

Asked if there would be any foreign trips coming up in the next few weeks, the PMS replied that this was being considered as part of the diary arrangements for July, but there were no further details at the moment.

EU Referendum

Asked for a response to calls from the GMB union on the EU treaty, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had made his position clear on the case for a referendum on the EU amended treaty in the past few days and weeks.

Floods

Asked if the Prime Minister had any thoughts on the floods, the PMS said that the Prime Minister was keen to be kept fully informed of what was happening. He had spoken to the leaders of the councils of Sheffield, Doncaster and Hull in recent days. As people knew, John Healey was co-ordinating the Government's response to the floods, Hilary Benn had visited the region in recent days, and Hazel Blears and Alan Johnson were visiting today.